Trade-ins are an integral part of the video game industry but are we the victim of daylight robbery?
Firstly let’s focus on the negative aspects of trading in items at global stores such as GameStop and EBgames. It may be all well and good disposing of your older games for shiny new ones but the simple fact is you're being ripped-off; perhaps blinded by the appeal of playing the latest and greatest titles. Big chains are making an average of 200% on every game sold, with DVD trade-ins at times reaching a shocking 600% profit for every movie they get their grubby hands on.
That’s not even mentioning the addictive nature of the system itself, especially for the younger generation who tend to be blinded by naivety when it comes to the sentimental value of certain gaming titles. You tell a child they can have a brand new game at the price of trading in a few older or completed games and they will most likely welcome the offer with open arms. This is one of the reasons why gaming collections are becoming less prestigious and some gamers are finding themselves with only a handful of games to their name.
Don't get me wrong there are many positives to the system, such as walking into a store and picking up some quality games for much cheaper than you ordinarily would. In that respect the system does cater to gamers with perhaps less money, or even children who still attend an educational institution and have no steady income. This of course will get more people playing video games and that can't be a bad thing right? Trading in is also the perfect counter to the tedious ritual of collecting annual sports titles, instead these outdated versions can help contribute towards the latest installments in each series.
It's hard to tell whether trade-ins overall are a good thing or a bad thing, when you break it down it's easy see both sides of the argument and both present pretty strong cases. For me personally trading is a necessary part of gaming, I do however feel the system needs modifying to cut out inflated prices. There should be some standards agency somewhere forcing these massive gaming chains into incorporating minimum trade-in values that will help protect the seller from unfair transactions.
Perhaps the emergence of E-Play into the trade-in market will help things, if only a little. They plan on releasing a number of their touch-screen kiosks into Wal-Marts across the country, and from what has been rumoured the values you will receive for each game will be a lot fairer for gamers as a whole. Will this then push the competition to lower their prices? I guess only time will tell, but at least it will give people the option.
Craig Bryan, NoobFeed
Agreed. If I had to choose between a new copy of a game for $59.99, but the used copy is 49.99, I'd buy the used one.
Games are so expensive these days; that's the reason why I can't even afford to get a PS3, and even if I did had enough money to buy the console, what about games?
it's hard to judge whether trade-ins are good or bad. every business has it's good and bad sides. trade-ins are helping gamers to get good games in cheap rates, even though the distributors are making a good profit out of it. it doesn't really matter to gamers, what others are making as long as they can buy games with cheap price. yes. the prices can be even lower if few good policies are introduced.
In our country all we get is pirated games. Even the consoles you buy are chipped. So, we don’t have to worry about trading where as games are really cheap in the markets. The new games cost only $5-$7 and the old ones are $2-$4.
I agree as well, I do not mind used games,only problem is now there only 5-10 bucks cheaper, at that price it is easier to buy the new one
I don't trade in games at chain stores like gamestop. I have no problem buying a used game in order to save a few bucks though.
When I trade in a game, I tend to use an online game trading site that cuts out the middle man. It works on supply and demand, so sometimes it takes a while to unload or receive a particular game. It isn't a rip of like the chain stores.
The besy solution is to carefully decide which games we want to get rid of, then try and sell them at a good price. If the price isn't acceptable, sometimes the best solution is to freely give them to some friends, or nephews who certainly will find them interesting and will thank us for it :)
ummer is truly a special time of the year when the weather is warmer, the grass is greener, and gaming companies play their best hand from their deck. Specifically, they announce t
| Platform(s): | Xbox One, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, WII, 3DS, Vita, Mobile |
| Publisher(s): | NoobFeed |
| Developer(s): | NoobFeed Editors |
| Genres: | Artcile |
| Themes: | Feature, Editorial, Interviews, Opinion Pieces |
| Release Date: | 2009-02-14 |
Elden Ring fans having a blast with the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC or getting ab
Ballad of Antara was revealed at the Sony State of Play May 2024 event by InFol
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and a slew of other games from Nintendo&#
After the success of puzzle platformer Shady Part of Me under their belts, publ
Register with Us
Now that games are a lot expensive as they were a few years ago, I don't have any problem in buying an used game for a lower price.